PMQ Pizza Magazine Pizza Factory / Facebook
Pizza Factory Aims to Build New Stores With Smaller Footprints
The new Pizza Factory Express will be designed for optimized carryout and delivery and affordability for new franchisees.
The Pizza Factory Express model starts at 1,000 square feet and eliminates many of the operating expenses of larger restaurant prototypes.
The Oakhurst, California-based chain hopes to make it more affordable for new franchisees to open stores in other western states.
Pizza Factory recently announced a strategic partnership with San Francisco-based Rubber and Road Creative to conceptualize a new Pizza Factory Express design that would capitalize on the growing demand for off-premise dining options. The reimagined design would also make it easier for new franchisees to afford to open their first Pizza Factory store.
Photo: iStock
Feb. 5, 2021
Pizza Factory has created Pizza Factory Express, a format optimized for delivery and carryout, while offering franchisees a lower investment, a news release said.
The 1,000-square-foot model will allow the brand to enter untapped markets and eliminate many operational, equipment and furnishing costs associated with larger stores. Likewise, the format requires fewer employees to run the show, while still providing service for the on-the-go and at-home customer. Off-premise dining is here to stay, but restaurant design still remains more important than ever, Pizza Factory CEO Mary Jane Riva said in the release.
Pizza Factory tapped San Francisco-based design agency, Rubber and Road Creative, to help create the format.
Oakhurst, CA (
Pizza Factory, the 35-year-old go-to neighborhood spot for family-friendly dining and high-quality meals, heats up 2021 with an exciting addition to its corporate team by welcoming Rob Searfus.
With a wide-range of expertise in the restaurant and franchise industries, Searfus will assist Pizza Factory with franchisee support. Coming in with 20-plus years of experience working with Subway and Wendy’s franchisees, Searfus will bring his passion for streamlining operations to Pizza Factory restaurant owners and help them reach their highest potential.
“I’m excited to continue working in the restaurant space, as it is an industry that I’ve truly come to love, and to join the awesome team at Pizza Factory,” said Searfus, who previously worked as an advertiser prior to entering the franchising space. “After working with large restaurant concepts, I’ve seen first-hand the support that is necessary for each individual location to succeed. I’m looking forwa
Photo: File
Jan. 20, 2021
Oakland, California-based Pizza Factory has beefed up its corporate team with the addition of Rob Searfus as franchise business coach. A news release said Searfus brings a range of restaurant and franchise expertise to the job, after 20-plus years of experience working with Subway and Wendy s franchisees. I m excited to continue working in the restaurant space, as it is an industry that I ve truly come to love, and to join the awesome team at Pizza Factory, Searfus said in the release. After working with large restaurant concepts, I ve seen first-hand the support that is necessary for each individual location to succeed. I m looking forward to assisting the Pizza Factory owners, using the tactics I ve seen have success, and helping them reach their goals in the new year and beyond.
Letting go, learning, leading: Pizza execs look back at a harrowing year
It was a year of excruciating decisions, uncontrollable conditions and lots and lots of leaps if not catapult-rides of faith in the pizza business. Here, some of the pizza restaurant business s leaders go on-the-record about the toughest moments of 2020.
Photo: iStock
The restaurant tragedies of the last year are written all over the nation s landscape in the darkened and boarded-up storefronts of what at last count was approximately 120,000 restaurants. Aside from the unestimated and still accruing toll these losses have incurred on business owners and employees, are the ripple effects of all the collateral damage to surrounding communities and the many patrons who depended on these places for a source of connection.